Editing device with display of program ID code and images of the program

ABSTRACT

Program configuration is carried out by using the screen of a display section  17  and an input operating section  18  of a video editing device  10,  and data of this program configuration is recorded in a RAM  19.  In accordance with the data of the program configuration, an editing control section  11  reads out a video material corresponding to material identification information of this program configuration from a digital VTR for reproduction  1  and records the video material onto a HDD  12.  In accordance with the data of the program configuration, the editing control section  11  reproduces the video material of the corresponding material identification information from the HDD  12  and supplies the video material to a digital VTR for recording  5.  Thus, the video editing device which automatically edits a program by inputting the video material having the material identification information after setting the program configuration is provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an editing device, an editing system and anediting method for editing video and/or audio materials.

BACKGROUND ART

An editing device is provided which takes a video material and/or anaudio material from plural sources such as a material tape, a videocamera and a microphone, and edits these materials into a series ofmaterials.

The editing device employs, for example, a method of installing pluralVTRs for reproduction in parallel, reproducing materials, selectingnecessary portions from these materials, and then sequentiallyconnecting and recording the selected portions. Conventionally, theediting device employing such method has been broadly used.

On the other hand, another editing device referred to as a non-linearediting device system is provided. This non-linear editing systemenables recording and reproduction of materials on and from a randomlyaccessible recording medium like a hard disc as a temporary recordingmedium in editing, and thus enables non-sequential editing. Therefore,quick reading of a desired video material and insertion and deletion ofa material with respect to a series of video materials may be carriedout without having any inconvenience, thus improving operability of theediting work.

Meanwhile, recently, various video and/or audio-related devices such asa VTR and a video camera have been significantly diffused, and thedemand for an editing device for editing materials has been increasedaccordingly.

In a number of cases, such editing device is used with variouslimitations put thereon, like the skill of an operator who operates thedevice.

To actually carry out editing using video materials, the non-linearediting system requires the operator to have predetermined technicalknowledge concerning video editing. Therefore, the non-linear editingdevice has a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently exertfunctions thereof if the operator lacks the predetermined technicalknowledge.

In view of the foregoing problem, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an editing device, an editing system and an editingmethod which enable sufficient exertion of functions of the editingdevice and the editing system as described above even when variouslimitations such as the skill of the operator are imposed in actualediting work using video and/or audio materials.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided an editing deviceincluding: a non-linearly accessible recording medium; recording meansfor recording video and/or audio signals onto the recording medium;display means for displaying a program configuration table indicating,every predetermined unit, images and/or sounds necessary for eachprogram on the basis of configuration of the program; operating meansfor operating the program configuration table displayed by the displaymeans; and control means for performing control to register anidentification code appended every predetermined unit of the programconfiguration table onto the program configuration table by using theoperating means, and to cause the recording means to record only apredetermined unit of images and/or sounds selected by operation of theoperating means from predetermined units of images and/or soundsindicated by the registered identification codes.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an editingmethod including: a first step of displaying, every predetermined unit,images and/or sounds necessary for each program on the basis ofconfiguration of the program, and displaying a program configurationtable with an identification code appended thereto every predeterminedunit; a second step of selecting the images and/or sounds necessary foreach program, every predetermined unit; and a third step of recording,onto a recording medium, only video and/or audio signals correspondingto the predetermined unit of images and/or sounds selected at the secondstep, and displaying the images and/or sounds recorded everypredetermined unit which is necessary for each program of the programconfiguration table.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an editingsystem including an editing device and an imaging device. The editingdevice includes: a non-linearly accessible recording medium; editing andrecording means for recording video and/or audio signals onto therecording medium; display means for displaying a program configurationtable indicating, every predetermined unit, images and/or soundsnecessary for each program on the basis of configuration of the program;operating means for operating the program configuration table displayedby the display means; and control means for registering anidentification code appended every predetermined unit of the programconfiguration table onto the program configuration table by using theoperating means, and causing the display means to display theidentification code. The imaging device includes: identification codeinput means for inputting the identification code appended everypredetermined unit of the program configuration table displayed by thedisplay means; imaging and recording means for imaging the predeterminedunit of images and/or sounds corresponding to the inputtedidentification code, and recording the imaged video and/or audio signalstogether with the identification code onto the recording medium; andoutput means for outputting the identification code and the video and/oraudio signals recorded on the recording medium. The control meansperforms control to cause the output means of the imaging device tooutput only the predetermined unit of video and/or audio signalsselected by operation of the operating means from the predeterminedunits of images and/or sounds indicated by the registered identificationcodes, and to cause the editing and recording means to record theoutputted video and/or audio signals onto the recording medium.

According to the present invention, there is further provided an editingmethod including: a first step of displaying, every predetermined unit,images and/or sounds necessary for each program on the basis ofconfiguration of the program, and displaying a program configurationtable with an identification code appended thereto every predeterminedunit; a second step of imaging and recording, onto a first recordingmedium, the images and/or sounds necessary for each program on the basisof the identification code displayed at the first step; a third step ofselecting the images and/or sounds necessary for each program, everypredetermined unit; and a fourth step of recording, onto a secondrecording medium, only video and/or audio signals corresponding to thepredetermined unit of images and/or sounds selected at the third stepfrom the images and/or sounds recorded at the second step, anddisplaying the images and/or sounds recorded every predetermined unitonto the second recording medium which is necessary for each program ofthe program configuration table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the structure of anentire editing system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing editing procedures through correspondingscreens.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an initial screen.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a program selection screen opened from theinitial screen.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the program selection screen in which a programis newly registered.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a program selection screen in which a programis being selected to open a program configuration table.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the program configuration screen in which amaterial name is being inputted.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the program configuration screen in which amaterial is being recorded.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the program configuration screen in the casewhere a material is shot with a material ID appended thereto.

FIG. 10 is a view showing the state that a material is being monitored.

FIG. 11 is a view showing the program configuration screen in whichrecording of all materials has been completed.

FIG. 12 is a view showing an editing screen before effect setting.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the editing screen in which effect patternsetting is being carried out.

FIG. 14 is a view showing the editing screen in which effect timesetting is being carried out.

FIG. 15 is a view showing the editing screen in which input of anediting point is being carried out.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing a jog/shuttle dial.

FIG. 17 is a view showing an audio effect window.

FIG. 18 is a view showing the editing screen in which setting of a DSK(digital still keying) effect is being carried out.

FIG. 19 is a view showing the editing screen in which additional settingof the DSK (digital still keying) effect is being carried out.

FIG. 20 is a view showing the editing screen in which audiorecording/monitoring is being carried out.

FIG. 21 is a view showing a material screen.

FIG. 22 is a view showing the material screen in which a material cut isbeing cut out.

FIG. 23 is a view showing the material screen in which cut-out of thematerial cut has been completed.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of an editing device, an editing system and anediting method according to the present invention will now be describedin detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an editing system including an editing device as anembodiment of the present invention and a peripheral equipment connectedto this editing device. Specifically, the editing system shown in FIG. 1includes a digital VTR for reproduction 1, a video camera 2, amicrophone 3, a sound effect reproducing section 4, an editing device10, a digital VTR for recording 5, and a video monitor 6.

The digital VTR for reproduction 1 includes a tape reproducing section 1b and a memory read section 1 b. Information of a video materialobtained by coverage and information of a material ID are recorded on atape section and a memory section of a material cassette tape 101,respectively. In the digital VTR for reproduction 1, the tapereproducing section la reads the video material recorded on the tapesection of the cassette tape 101, and the memory read section lb readsthe material ID corresponding to the video material, recorded on thememory section of the cassette tape 101. The video material and audiomaterial recorded on the cassette tape 101 are shot and recorded by animaging device 102. This imaging device 102 is provided with an indexpicture recording circuit 102 a within a video and audiorecording/reproducing circuit 102 c for automatically recording frames(referred to as index pictures) such as frames before and after thevideo material and frames before and after a scene change onto thecassette tape 101. The index picture is thinned to {fraction (1/16)} bythe index picture recording circuit 102 a, and is stored in a memory 102b provided within the index picture recording circuit 102 a. When thecassette tape 101 is taken out of the imaging device 102 on completionof shooting, plural thinned frames, that is, plural index pictures, arerecorded onto the cassette tape 101. When the cassette tape 101completed in shooting is inserted in the digital VTR for reproduction,the plural index pictures are automatically reproduced from the cassettetape 101.

The video camera 2 obtains the video material and outputs the videomaterial to the video material editing device 10. The microphone 3obtains the audio material and outputs the audio material to the videoediting device 10. The sound effect reproducing section 4 reproduces asound effect under the control of the video editing device 10 andoutputs the sound effect to the video editing device 10.

The digital VTR for recording 5 records the video material and/or audiomaterial completed in editing by the video editing device 10 onto anedited tape 103. The video monitor 6 monitors the video material whichhas been edited by the video editing device 10 and is recorded onto theedited tape 103 by the digital VTR for recording 5. In the case where anoperator wishes to confirm the audio material together with the videomaterial completed in editing, an output from a speaker, not shown,connected to the video monitor 6 may be used.

The video editing device 10 includes an editing control section 11, anHDD (hard disc drive) 12, a video selecting section 13, an audioselecting section 14, an audio mixer 15, a video special effect unit 16,a display section 17, and an input operating section 18.

The editing control section 11 controls the video editing device 10 andperipheral equipments connected to the video editing device 10.Specifically, in the video editing device 10, the editing controlsection 11 performs control to cause the HDD 12, the video selectingsection 13, the audio selecting section 14, the audio mixer 15, thevideo special effect unit 16, the display section 17 and the inputoperating section 18 to operate in cooperation with one another. Theediting control section 11 also performs control to cause the digitalVTR for reproduction 1, the sound effect reproducing section 4 and thedigital VTR for recording 5 as peripheral equipments to operate incooperation with one another. The editing control section 11 performscontrol based on the a given program and the data including the materialID read out from the memory section of the material cassette tape 101 bythe memory read section 1 b of the digital VTR for reproduction 1.

The HDD 12 stores the video material and the audio material and suitablyreads or writes the video material and the like, under the control ofthe editing control section 11, so that editing is carried out in thevideo editing device 10 and that the video materials and the like areprocessed by the audio mixer 15 and the video special effect unit 16.The video material and the like thus edited and processed are suppliedto the peripheral equipments through an interface.

That is, the HDD 12 is supplied with the video material from the videoselecting section 13 and the audio material from the audio selectingsection 14 under the control of the editing control section 11. Also,the audio material is inputted/outputted between the HDD 12 and theaudio mixer 15, and the video material is inputted/outputted between theHDD 12 and the video special effect unit 16. Also, the HDD 12 suppliesthe video material and the audio material as outputs from the videoediting device 10 to the digital VTR for recording 5 and the videomonitor 6.

The video selecting section 13 selects the video material outputted fromthe digital VTR for reproduction 1 and the video camera 2 and outputsthe selected video material to the HDD 12, under the control of theediting control section 11.

The audio selecting section 14 selects the audio material outputted fromthe digital VTR for reproduction 1, the microphone 3 and the soundeffect reproducing section 4 and outputs the selected audio material tothe HDD 12, under the control of the editing control section 11.

The audio mixer 15 is supplied with the audio material from the HDD 12,processes the audio material and outputs the processed audio material tothe HDD 12, under the control of the editing control section 11.

The video special effect unit 16 is supplied with the video materialfrom the HDD 12, carries out special effect processing on the videomaterial and outputs the processed video material to the HDD 12, underthe control of the editing control section 11.

The display section 17 receives various information for the videomaterial and the audio material concerning editing from the editingcontrol section 11, and displays the received information. The displaysection 17 enables the operator to grasp the current status of editing.

The input operating section 18 includes a mouse, a keyboard and ajog/shuttle dial. The input operating section 18 is a user interfacetogether with the display section 17 for the operator, in order to carryout various operations such as input/output of the video and audiomaterials to/from the video editing device 10, recording on/reproductionfrom the HDD 12, operation for special effect processing of the specialeffect unit 16, and operation for audio processing of the audio mixer15.

As described above, the video editing system of the present embodimentincludes the digital VTR for reproduction 1, the video camera 2, themicrophone 3, the sound effect reproducing section 4 and the digital VTRfor recording 5 as external equipments, and includes the video editingdevice 10. That is, the video editing system is constituted by externalequipments including the digital VTR for reproduction 1 for reproducinga tape on which video materials and the like are recorded, the videocamera 2, the microphone 3 and the sound effect reproducing section 4.The video editing system is also constituted by the video editing device10 including the video selecting section 13 for selecting the videomaterial from the digital VTR for reproduction 1 and the video camera 2,the audio selecting section 14 for selecting the audio material from thedigital VTR for reproduction 1 and the video camera 2, the HDD 12 as anon-linearly accessible recording medium for storing the video materialselected by the video selecting section 13 and the audio materialselected by the audio selecting section 14, the input operating section18 including the keyboard and the mouse, the editing control section 11for controlling the video editing device 10 in accordance with theoperation information from the input operating section 18, the displaysection 17 for displaying editing material information, the specialeffect unit 16 for carrying out special effect processing on the videomaterial, and the audio mixer 15 for processing the audio material. Thevideo editing system is further constituted by the digital VTR forrecording 5 as another external equipment.

For editing the video material and the audio material by using theabove-described editing device, the following two methods areconsidered.

A first method is to determine in advance materials necessary for aprogram by the video editing device 10 and then actually shoot videomaterials and audio materials based on the determined information. Afterthe end of shooting, the materials are recorded on the video editingdevice 10 while it is confirmed whether the materials determined inadvance before shooting have been actually shot. The materials areedited so as to produce a material for broadcasting by the VTR forrecording 5.

A second method is to store all the first shot materials into the videoediting device 10, then select and edit materials necessary for aprogram, and output the edited materials to the VTR for recording 5.

The first method is to shoot predetermined materials and then carry outediting by the editing device 10, while the second method is to randomlycollect materials and select necessary materials therefrom. In thepresent embodiment, the second method is employed as an editing methodof video materials and audio materials by the editing device 10. Also,in the present invention, recording of materials to the editing device10 from the VTR for reproduction 1 and editing of materials are carriedout on a GUI (graphic user interface) displayed on the display section17 of the video editing device 10. Therefore, each screen displayed onthe display section 17 of the editing device 10 will be first described,and the operating method of each screen will be described subsequently.

FIG. 2 shows each screen displayed on the display section 17 of thevideo editing device 10 and the relation between the respective screens.As shown in FIG. 2, there are six types of screens, that is, an initialscreen 21, a program selection screen 22, a program configuration screen23, an editing screen 24, a material screen 25 and a utility screen 26.The initial screen 21 enables transition to three types of screens, thatis, the program selection screen 22, the material screen 25 and theutility screen 26. Also, transition from these three types of screens tothe initial screen 21 is possible. In addition, transition between theprogram selection screen 22, the program configuration screen 23 and theediting screen 24 is possible. The above-described six types of screensare stored in an advance in a ROM, not shown, of the editing controlsection 11 and are displayed on the display section 17. Operation ofeach screen and transition between the respective screens may be carriedout by operating the input operating section 18. Such operation will bedescribed later in detail.

Each of the initial screen 21, the program selection screen 22, theprogram configuration screen 23, the editing screen 24, the materialscreen 25 and the utility screen 26 will now be described.

The initial screen 21 is displayed on the display section 17 when thepower of the video editing device 10 is turned on or when the videoediting device 10 is reset. As a matter of course, the initial screenmay be displayed through transition from the other screens. The operatormay shift from this initial screen 21 to the other screens by actuallyoperating the input operating section 18.

On the initial screen 21, as shown in FIG. 3, three title bars aredisplayed, that is, a title bar 31 displaying “PROGRAMSELECTION/CONFIGURATION/EDITING”, a title bar 32 displaying “MATERIAL”,and a title bar 33 displaying “UTILITY”.

By operating the input operating section 18, for example, clicking themouse constituting the input operating section 18 to select one of thethree title bars, the operator may shift to the corresponding screen.Specifically, if the title bar 31 displaying “PROGRAMSELECTION/CONFIGURATION/EDITING” is selected, the screen shifts to theprogram selection screen 22. If the title bar 32 displaying “MATERIAL”is selected, the screen shifts to the material screen 25. If the titlebar 33 displaying “UTILITY” is selected, the screen shifts to theutility screen 26.

The program selection screen 22 will now be described. The programselection screen 22 may be opened from the initial screen 21 or theprogram configuration screen 23 and the editing screen 24. The programselection screen 22 is adapted for registering a program name ordeleting a registered program name.

As shown in FIG. 4, a program name display screen 34, an operation menu35 and a scroll bar 36 are displayed on the program selection screen 22.

The program name display screen 34 includes items of “PROGRAM ID”,“PROGRAM NAME”, “PRODUCTION STAFF”, “REGISTRATION DATE”, “SCHEDULEDCOMPLETION DATE”, and “NOTE” sequentially from left to right in theuppermost row, and the respective columns indicate the correspondingitems, as shown in FIG. 4.

The operation menu 35 displayed on the lowermost part of the programselection screen 22 includes eight buttons of “NEW”, “DELETE”, “OPEN”,“SAVE”, “ALTER”, “CONFIGURE”, “Q-SHEET”, and “END”.

The scroll bar 36 is displayed on the right side of the program namedisplay screen 34. By operating the input operating section 18, forexample, operating the mouse, a scroll button 36 a of the scroll bar 36can be caused to scroll up and down the program name display screen 34.

The state of the program selection screen 22 of FIG. 4 is an example atthe time when this program selection screen 22 is opened from theinitial screen 21. In this case, a state that a program ID “0001” and aprogram name “IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 70” have already been registered on theprogram name display screen 34 is shown. That is, the program ID “0001”,the program name “IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 70”, production staff “YATO”,registration date “'93.8.25”, scheduled completion date “'93.9.14” arealready registered in the first row of the program name display screen34, thus showing various information concerning the program with theprogram name of “IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 70” such as the program ID, theprogram production staff member, the registration date on which theprogram was registered on this screen, and the scheduled completion dateof the program.

The configuration of the program is made by this program selectionscreen 22 before coverage, and materials obtained through the coverageare recorded, every program, onto the HDD 12 of the video editing device10, thus carrying out editing of the video materials. That is, afterinput of necessary items onto the program name display screen 34 in theprogram selection screen 22 is completed, coverage report is carried outfor obtaining materials and the materials obtained through the coverageare recorded onto the HDD 12 of the video editing device 10 for everyprogram name inputted on the program name display screen.

FIG. 5 shows the state of the screen at the time when a program is newlyregistered on the program selection screen 22.

To newly register a program, a “NEW” button 38 of the operation menu 35is clicked by operating the input operating section 18, for example, themouse. Then, the position of a row where a program is to be newlyregistered is selected by clicking a desired row of the program namedisplay screen 34 by using the mouse. In the example shown in FIG. 5, asthe fourth row is selected, the row turns into a selected row 39 whichis highlighted in display so that a new program may be registered inthis row. In the present embodiment, highlighting display means displaywhich is discriminable from other buttons, including display of adifferent color.

In the “PROGRAM ID” column of the fourth row in the program name displayscreen 34, “0004” is already displayed. That is, in the presentembodiment, when a program is newly registered by the “NEW” button sothat the selected row 39 is highlighted in display, the program ID isautomatically issued.

FIG. 6 shows the state of the program selection screen 22 immediatelybefore a program inputted in advance on the program name display screen34 is selected to open the program configuration screen 23 showing theprogram configuration.

On the program name display screen 34, as the third row displaying theprogram ID “0003” and the program name “IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 72” is clickedand selected by using the mouse, this row 41 is highlighted in displayso as to indicate that this row is selected. Then, as the “OPEN” button40 of the operation menu 35 is clicked by operating the input operatingsection 18, for example, the mouse, the screen shifts to the programconfiguration screen corresponding to this program.

The program configuration screen 23 will now be described.

The program configuration screen 23 is a screen for registering videomaterials of each program with respect to each program registered on theprogram selection screen 22. The program configuration screen 23 may beopened from the program selection screen 22. The program configurationscreen 23 may also be opened from the above-described initial screen 21,if necessary. In addition, the program configuration screen 23 may alsobe opened from the editing screen 24 as later described.

The program configuration screen 23 is constituted by a program namedisplay section 42, a material name display screen 63, an operation menu35, a scroll bar 36, and a monitor scroll bar 43, as shown in FIG. 7.The program configuration screen 23 is adapted mainly for recording thematerial name of each program, registering digital still keying (DSK)materials, recording the registered materials onto the HDD 12 of thevideo editing device 10, and monitoring the materials.

Each item on the program configuration screen 23 will now be describedwith reference to FIG. 7.

The program display section 42 includes a program ID 42 a and a programname 42 b. The program ID and the program name of each programregistered on the program selection screen 22 are displayed in theprogram ID 42 a and the program name 42 b of the program display section42, respectively. In the example of FIG. 7, the program configurationscreen 23 corresponding the program ID “0003” and the program name“IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 72” registered and selected in FIG. 6 is displayed.The program configuration screen 23 is displayed on the display section17 of the video editing device 10, so that the operation of input toeach item is carried out by operating the input operating section 18 ofthe video editing device 10.

The material name display screen 63 includes columns of “MATERIAL ID”,“MATERIAL NAME”, “MATERIAL TIME”, “STAFF”, “RECORDING DATE”, and“MONITOR” sequentially from left to right.

“MATERIAL ID” represents the ID appended to each video (audio) materialobtained through coverage or the like. “MATERIAL NAME” represents thename appended to each video (audio) material obtained through coverageor the like. “MATERIAL TIME” indicates the time for recording eachmaterial classified by “MATERIAL NAME” and “MATERIAL ID” onto the HDD 12of the video editing device 10. When the material is being recorded,count-up is carried out in accordance with the recording time of thematerial which is being recorded. “STAFF” represents the staff member incharge of obtaining and recording each video material. The staff memberwho is in charge of each material classified by the material ID and thematerial name may be known from this “STAFF” column. “RECORDING DATE”indicates the date of recording each material classified by the materialID and the material name onto the HDD 12 of the video editing device 10.The “MONITOR” column is an item provided for overlook display of thevideo recorded on the HDD 12. The overlook display of the video in the“MONITOR” column will be described later. In the example of FIG. 7, thematerial ID and the material name are being inputted in the fifth row ofthe material name display screen 63 and recording of each material isnot carried out. Therefore, all the columns of “MATERIAL TIME”,“RECORDING DATE” and “MONITOR” in the material name display screen 63are blank. Input to the “MATERIAL NAME” column and input to the“MATERIAL ID” column are associated with each other. For example,“MATERIAL ID” may be displayed and registered at the same time as“MATERIAL NAME” is inputted.

The operation menu 35 displayed on the lowermost part of the programconfiguration screen 23 includes nine buttons of “NEW”, “DELETE”,“ALTER”, “SAVE”, “REC”, “MONI”, “STOP”, “Q-SHEET”, and “END”.

The “NEW” button of the operation menu 35 is for newly registering amaterial. When a material is to be newly registered, the position of arow where new registration is to be carried out in the material namedisplay screen 63 is selected by operating the input operating section18. As the “NEW” button 38 of the operation menu 35 is selected byoperating the input operating section 18, for example, clicking themouse, the row where a material is to be registered is highlighted indisplay, thus enabling input of a new material. In the example of FIG.7, the fifth row of the material name display screen 63 is selected andthe “NEW” button 38 is operated by the input operating section 18.

The “DELETE” button of the operation menu 35 is for deleting an item ofeach material inputted or registered in the material name display screen63. The position of a row to be deleted in the material name displayscreen 63 is selected by operating the input operating section 18, andthis entire row is deleted by selecting the “DELETE” button of theoperation menu 35 by the operating input operating section 18, forexample, clicking the mouse. Also, by selecting each item of eachmaterial, for example, only the material name by the input operatingsection 18 and selecting the “DELETE” button of the operation menu 35 byoperating the input operating section 18, for example, clicking themouse, only the material name may be deleted.

The “ALTER” button of the operation menu 35 is for altering the items ofeach material inputted or registered in the material name display screen63. For example, as an altered row in the material name display screen63 is selected by operating the input operating section 18 and then the“ALTER” button is selected by operating the input operating section 18,a display prompting input to the “MATERIAL ID” column of the materialname display screen 63 is provided, for example, a prompt is displayedin the “MATERIAL ID” column.

The “SAVE” button of the operation menu 35 is for saving each item orthe entire material display screen. For example, as a saved row of thematerial name display screen 63 is selected by operating the inputoperating section 18 and then the “SAVE” button is selected by operatingthe input operating section 18, the entire selected row of the materialname display screen 63 is saved.

The “REC”, “MONI”, and “STOP” buttons of the operation menu 35 areadapted for carrying out recording, monitoring, and stop recording ofeach material selected in the material name display screen 63,respectively. These buttons will be later described in detail.

In FIG. 7, the program ID 42 a of “0003” and the program name of“IN-HOUSE NEWS NO. 72” are displayed in the program display section 42,and the program configuration screen 23 displays the configuration ofthis program.

In first row of the material name display screen 63 of FIG. 7, amaterial ID “V005-03”, a material name “OPENING TITLE”, and a staffmember “HAMAHATA” are displayed. In the second row, a material ID“T001-00”, a material name “NO. 72”, and a staff member “YATO” aredisplayed. In the third row, a material ID “V000-00”, a material name“HEADLINE”, and a staff member “YATO” are displayed. In the fourth row,a material ID “V001-00”, a material name “STUDIO RECORDING 1”, and astaff member “YATO” are displayed. In the fifth row, a material ID“V002-00” and a material name “COVERAGE CUT 1” are newly inputted, asdescribed above.

The material having the material ID “T001-00” of the second row is amaterial for carrying out DSK as the background of the material havingthe material ID “V005-03” of the first row, and is discriminated by theinitial letters “T” and “S” of the material ID. The above-describedseries of operation is carried out at a time point before the coveragefor actually shooting the material, and the cameraman shoots thematerial based on the material ID registered on the programconfiguration screen 23. Specifically, immediately before shooting thematerial of the registered material ID, the cameraman inputs thematerial ID to a shooting equipment such as a VTR-loaded camera, byoperating an operating button or GUI of this camera so as to record thematerial ID on the memory cassette of the material tape cassette 101. Bythis shooting method, the material and the material ID are recorded onthe material tape cassette in the corresponding manner.

FIG. 8 shows the state that recording of each material classified by thematerial ID and the material name onto the HDD 12 of the video editingdevice 10 is being carried out in the program configuration screen 23.

In the material name display screen 63 of FIG. 8, in the monitor columns47 of the materials of the material ID “V005-03” in the first row, thematerial ID “T001-00” in the second row, the material ID “V000-00” inthe third row, and the material ID “V001-00” in the fourth row, imagesof the materials are displayed by overlook display. It is thus indicatedthat these materials are already recorded on the HDD 12. Since thematerial having the material ID “T001-00” in the second row is a stillpicture, a single image thereof is provided instead of overlook display.

The items of material time and recording time in the material namedisplay screen 63 are items to be inputted when a video material isrecorded. Therefore, the recording time and the recording date of thematerials corresponding to their respective material IDs and materialnames are displayed in the first to fourth rows in the material namedisplay screen 63, as shown in FIG. 8. Since the material having thematerial ID “T001-00” in the second row of the material name displayscreen 63 is a still picture, the item of the material time is leftblank with no display.

For recording a material, a row indicating a desired material registeredin the material name display screen 63 is selected by operating theinput operating section 18, and the “REC” button 44 of the operationmenu 35 is selected by operating the input operating section 18. Thus,recording of the material is started.

In the example of FIG. 8, a material corresponding to the material ID“V002-00” and the material name “COVERAGE CUT 1” in the fifth row of thematerial name display screen 63 is selected and recorded. The “REC”button 44 is also highlighted in display with respect to the selectedmaterial, thus indicating that the corresponding row is selected. Thematerial of the fifth row is being recorded, and its image is displayedby overlook display in the monitor column 47 so as to display the statusof recording. Therefore, the status of recording of the video materialmay be known in real time. In the present embodiment, the overlookdisplay of the image is provided by extracting an image everypredetermined period from a series of images of the correspondingmaterial and displaying the extracted images in an overlapping manner.

When recording of the material corresponding to the material ID in thefifth row of the material name display screen 63 is completed, all theimages displayed by overlook display of the corresponding materialappear in the monitor column 47 in the material name display screen 63so that completion of recording of the video material and confirmationof the contents of the video material may be carried out. Before thematerial corresponding to the material ID is recorded on the HDD 12 ofthe video editing device 10, only frames referred to as index picturesare displayed as in the seventh and eighth rows of the material namedisplay screen 63 shown in FIG. 8. However, during recording onto theHDD 12 by the above-described method or at the time of completion ofrecording, the images displayed by overlook display are shown in themonitor column 47 of the material name display screen 63.

Specifically, after the input to the material name display screen 63 ofthe program configuration screen 23 shown in FIG. 7 is completed, actualshooting of the material is carried out. When the material tape cassette101 completed in shooting is inserted and reproduced in the digital VTRfor reproduction 1, frames before and after the interval betweenmaterials and frames before and after a scene change (referred to asindex pictures as described above) are displayed in the monitor column47 of the program configuration screen 23, as in the seventh and eighthrows of FIG. 8, so that these frames are automatically displayed in alist. That is, only the index pictures corresponding to the material IDare first displayed in the monitor column 47 of the programconfiguration screen 23. This is because the shooting equipment has afunction to record the above-described index pictures so that the indexpictures are first reproduced by the digital VTR for reproduction 1.When recording onto the HDD 12 of the video editing device 10 iscompleted by the above-described operation, the images displayed byoverlook display are displayed in the monitor column 47 of the programconfiguration screen 23.

As described above, only the material corresponding to the material IDdisplayed on the material name display screen 63 of the programconfiguration screen 23 may be automatically recorded onto the recordingmedium of the video editing device 10 by operating the “REC” button 44of the operation menu 35. The recording medium used in the presentembodiment is the HDD (hard disc drive) 12 as shown in FIG. 1. Thereason the material corresponding to the material ID on the programconfiguration table may be thus recorded on the recording medium of thevideo editing device 10 is that the material and its material ID areassociated with each other by recording the material ID in the cassettememory (memory in cassette or MIC) before actually shooting thematerial.

Specifically, the material ID is recorded in the MIC of the materialcassette tape 101 immediately before shooting the material, and then,the actual material corresponding to the material ID is recorded on thetape of the material cassette tape 101 by a camera-loaded VTR or thelike. Then, the material tape cassette 101 is inserted in the digitalVTR for reproduction 1, and the information operated by the inputoperating section 18 is outputted to the memory read section 1 b of thedigital VTR for reproduction 1 through the editing control section 11.The material ID corresponding to the operated information is read outfrom the MIC by the memory read section 1 b. Since information about theposition on the tape where the actual material corresponding to thematerial ID is recorded is provided within the MIC, the actual materialis searched and recorded onto the HDD 12.

Thus, only the material corresponding to the material ID may be recordedonto the HDD 12 by operating the input operating section 18 on theabove-described program configuration screen 23 displayed on the displaysection 17. Recording of each material displayed on the programconfiguration screen 23 with respect to each program registered on theabove-described program selection screen 22 may also be automaticallycarried out on the basis of the registered material ID displayed on thematerial name display screen 63.

Referring to FIG. 8, if a material is shot with a material ID appendedthereto though there is no material corresponding to the material ID, amaterial selection screen 230 as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on anotherwindow on the program configuration screen 23 at an arbitrary timepoint, for example, at a time point before recording the materialcorresponding to the each material ID onto the HDD 12 of the videoediting device 10 using the program configuration screen 23. In thismaterial selection screen 230, an index picture 232 is displayed with amaterial ID 23 1 appended thereto. The material ID 231 and the indexpicture 232 corresponding to the material ID 231 represent a materialdisplayed on the material selection screen 230 with its material ID notbeing appended on the material name display screen 63 of the programconfiguration screen 23. When the material ID 231 on the materialselection screen 230 is newly registered to the material ID on thematerial name display screen 63, the material automatically recordedonto the HDD 12 of the video editing device 10. The time point when thematerial selection screen 230 is displayed as another window on theprogram configuration screen 23 may be an arbitrary time point, forexample, a time point when recording of a material ID registered on theprogram name display screen 63 onto the HDD 12 is completed (as shown inFIG. 11).

The material registered on the program configuration screen 23 is notentirely recorded at a time. The material which cannot be recorded isnot recorded from the digital VTR for reproduction 1 onto the HDD 12 andis recorded onto the digital VTR for recording 5 through the HDD 12.This is because the HDD 12 has a limited recording capacity. Forexample, with respect to a material having a material time exceeding 15minutes, which is displayed in the material time column 46 of thematerial name display screen 63, the material portion corresponding tothe time up to 15 minutes is recorded on the HDD 12 and the remainingmaterial portion exceeding 15 minutes is directly recorded on thedigital VTR for recording 5 and displayed on the display section 17through the editing control section 11 from the digital VTR forrecording 5.

FIG. 10 shows the state that the material is monitored on the programconfiguration screen 23.

In the state shown in FIG. 10, recording of the materials is completedexcept for a material corresponding to a material ID “V004-00” and amaterial name “COVERAGE CUT 2” in the seventh row of the material namedisplay screen 63. The incompletion of recording of the materialcorresponding to the material ID “V004-00” may be known from the blankmaterial time column in the seventh row of the material name displayscreen 63 and the monitor column 47 where only the index picture (IP) isdisplayed.

For monitoring the recorded video material, the corresponding row in thematerial name display screen 63 is selected by operating the inputoperating section 18 in accordance with the material ID and the materialname of the desired material, and the “MONI” button 51 of the operationmenu 35 is selected by operating the input operating section 18, forexample, clicking the mouse. In FIG. 10, the material ID “V002-00” andthe material name “COVERAGE CUT 2” in the fifth row of the material namedisplay screen 63, and the “MONI” button 51 of the operation menu 35 arehighlighted in display. Thus, it is indicated that the material in thisrow and the “MONI” button are selected.

For monitoring the selected video material, images of the correspondingmaterial displayed by overlook display in the monitor column 47 aredisplayed entirely with the lapse of time. In FIG. 10, a video material52 corresponding to the material ID “V002-00” in the fifth row (thehighlighted row) of the material name display screen 63 is entirelydisplayed in a sequential manner. Since the image sequentially shifts inaccordance with the progress of recording to the video editing device10, the position of the monitored video may be known in real time. Thestatus of video monitoring is indicated by the position of a scrollbutton 43 a of the monitor scroll bar 43.

FIG. 11 shows the state that recording of each material displayed on theprogram configuration screen 23 to the video editing device 10 iscompleted.

The completion of recording of all the materials may be known from theoverlook display of the images corresponding to each material in themonitor column 42 in the material name display screen 63 and the displayof the material time of each video material in the “MATERIAL TIME”column in the material name display screen 63. Since the materialcorresponding to the material ID “T001-00” and the material name “NO.72” in the second row is a still picture, the “MATERIAL TIME” column isblank.

The editing screen 24 will now be described.

The editing screen 24 is adapted for carrying out editing of a videomaterial recorded to the video editing device 10 through theabove-described program configuration screen 23 and an audio materialcorresponding to the video material, for example, setting of specialeffects of the video material, setting of DSK, trimming, and recordingand mixing of the audio material.

The editing screen 24 may be opened from the program configurationscreen 23 by selecting the “Q-SHEET” button of the operation menu 35 inthe program configuration screen 23 by operating the input operatingsection 18, for example, clicking the mouse.

The editing screen 24 includes a program display section 42, a sourcename display screen 64, an operation menu 35, and a scroll bar 36, asshown in FIG. 12.

The program display section 42 has the same constitution as the programdisplay section 42 in the program configuration screen 23, and the samecontents as those of the program display section 42 of the programconfiguration screen 23 are displayed in this section. That is, theprogram display section 42 is displayed on the uppermost part of theediting screen 24 and includes a program ID 24 a and a program name 24b.

The source name display screen 64 includes 11 items of “SOURCE”, “VIDEOA” 53, “VIDEO B” 54, “VIDEO EFFECT”, “DSK (digital still keying)” 55,“VIDEO A” (further divided into first and second rows), “VIDEO B”(further divided into first and second rows), “AUDIO EFFECT”,“ANNOUNCE”, “SOUND EFFECT 1”, and “SOUND EFFECT 2” sequentially from topto bottom in the leftmost column. These 11 items will be later describedin detail.

The operation menu 35 is displayed on the lowermost part of the editingscreen 24, and includes 11 buttons of “DSK NEW”, “AUDIO NEW”, “DELETE”,“ALTER”, “SAVE”, “REC”, “MONI”, “STOP”, “AUTOMATIC EFFECT PROCESSING”,“PROGRAM REPRODUCTION”, and “END” sequentially from left to right. These11 buttons will be later described in detail.

The scroll bar 36 is displayed on the lower side of the source displayscreen 64. The scroll button 36 a can be caused to scroll the sourcename display screen 64 in left and right directions by operating theinput operating section 18.

The example shown in FIG. 12 is the editing screen 24 related to theprogram having the program ID “0003” and the program name “IN-HOUSE NEWSNO. 72”.

In the “VIDEO A” row 53 and the “VIDEO B” row 54 of the source namedisplay screen 64, the video material corresponding to each material isdisplayed by overlook display. Specifically, in the “VIDEO A” row 53,the video material displayed by overlook display corresponding to thematerial ID “V005-03” and the material name “OPENING TITLE” isdisplayed, and the material ID and the material name of this videomaterial are displayed on the upper part of the video material. Inaddition, the video materials corresponding to the material IDs“V001-00” and “V003-00”, and the material IDs and the material namescorresponding to these video materials are displayed similarly. In the“VIDEO B” row 54, too, the material ID, the material name and the videomaterial are displayed by overlook display similar to that in the “VIDEOA” row 53. Using the videos displayed in the “VIDEO A” row 53 and the“VIDEO B” row 54, video special effects are made as later described.

In FIG. 12, the material corresponding to the material ID “T001-00” andthe material name “NO. 72” is displayed in the “DSK” row 55. In this“DSK” row 55, an image (still picture) for keying is displayed. Actualkeying from this “DSK” row 55 will be described later.

In addition, on the source name display screen 64 of FIG. 12, “VIDEO A”591, “VIDEO B” 592, “AUDIO EFFECT” 59, “ANNOUNCE” 593, “SOUND EFFECT 1”594, and “SOUND EFFECT 2” 595 for audio processing are displayed.

In the VIDEO A row 591 and the VIDEO B row 592, audio materialscorresponding to “VIDEO A” 53 and “VIDEO B” 54 are displayed,respectively. Level display of the audio material is made, or the audiomaterial ID or audio material name is displayed. That is, in FIG. 12,the audio material is displayed in the VIDEO A row 591, corresponding tothe video material name “OPENING TITLE” in the VIDEO A row 53, and theaudio material is displayed in the VIDEO B row 592, corresponding to thevideo material name “HEADLINE” in the VIDEO B row 54. In the presentembodiment, since there are two output channels of the audio material,the display of each of the VIDEO A row 591 and the VIDEO B row 592 isdivided in two rows.

The AUDIO EFFECT row 59 displays an icon for setting a special effect ofthe audio material so that the audio effect is actually made. The audioeffect will be described later.

In the ANNOUNCE row 593, the audio material recorded together with thevideo material at the time of shooting is not displayed, and an audiomaterial which is generated with respect to the recorded video materialby an announcer viewing the video material is displayed, if any. Thedisplay is made by level display or band display, which indicatespost-recording.

The SOUND EFFECT 1 row 594 and the SOUND EFFECT 2 row 595 display anysound effects reproduced by the sound effect reproducing section 4 ofFIG. 1. The display thereof is similar to that of ANNOUNCE 593.

The editing screen 24 shown in FIG. 12 is in a state before carrying outvarious effect processing.

The program display section 42, the source name display screen 64, theoperation menu 35 and the scroll bar 36 in the editing screen 24 arethus described.

A method of setting a video special effect and a method of setting anaudio effect using the editing screen 24 will now be described. First,the video special effect setting method will be described.

FIG. 13 shows the state that setting of the video special effect isbeing carried out on the editing screen 24.

The setting of the video special effect is carried out in the VIDEOEFFECT row 56 of the source name display screen 64 in the editing screen24. That is, when the special effect is not carried out, each icondisplayed in the VIDEO EFFECT row 56 is blank like an icon 56 d.

All the blank icons are shifted to the position where the special effectis intended to be carried out. Specifically, when dissolve processing isintended to be carried out so that the image of the material name“OPENING” gradually fades away while the next image of the material name“HEADLINE” gradually appears, a blank icon is shifted to the position ofthe first frame in the VIDEO B row 54 where the material name “HEADLINE”is displayed. That is, icons displayed in the VIDEO EFFECT row 56 isdisplayed in a time series from left to right, corresponding to theVIDEO A row 53 and the VIDEO B row 54.

Next, when the blank icon is shifted to the desired position, what typeof special effect is to be made is determined. Specifically, as theblank icon is selected by operating the input operating section 18, forexample, clicking the mouse, a video effect selection window 57 isdisplayed. The video effect selection window 57 shows icons indicatingtypes of special effects, as shown in FIG. 13, and a rightmost scrollbar 57d and a lowermost scroll bar 57e in the window 57 can be caused toscroll the video effect selection window 57 by operating the inputoperating section 18, for example, clicking the mouse.

In this embodiment, the above-described dissolve processing effect isintended to be made at the position of an icon 56 a in VIDEO EFFECT 56,between the material name “OPENING” and the material name “HEADLINE”.Therefore, a dissolve processing icon 57 a in the video effect selectionwindow 57 is selected by operating the input operating section 18, forexample, clicking the mouse, so that the blank icon in the VIDEO EFFECTrow 56 turns into the icon 57 a like the icon 56 a of FIG. 13. That is,the special effect is set to carry out dissolve processing between thematerial name “OPENING” in VIDEO A and the material name “HEADLINE” inVIDEO B, at the position of the icon 56 a in the VIDEO EFFECT row 56 ofFIG. 13. By similar operation, at the position of an icon 56 b and anicon 56 c as displayed in the VIDEO EFFECT row 56 of FIG. 13, specialeffect displayed in the icons are made.

The icon 56 d is left blank in FIG. 13. This indicates the state thatwhat type of special effect is to be made is not determined and that noicon in the video effect selection window 57 is selected. Therefore, nospecial effect is made at this position.

In the video effect selection window 57, icons for making variouseffects are displayed other than the icon 57 a for making the dissolveeffect. In the case of FIG. 13, an icon 57 b for performingmulti-effector processing, an icon 57 c for performing slide processingof an image, and an icon 57 e for performing wipe processing of an imageare displayed. As a matter of course, other icons for performing variousspecial effect processing are displayed.

Subsequently, time setting of the video material for the special effectis carried out. FIG. 14 shows the state that the effect time is beingset.

The blank icon displayed in the VIDEO EFFECT row 56 in the source namedisplay screen 64 becomes an icon indicating a special effect of thevideo effect selection window 57, and then, the input operating section18 is operated, for example, “15” is inputted by the keyboard, so as todisplay the number of frames 15 on the lower part of the icon 56 d inthe VIDEO EFFECT row 56 of FIG. 14. This number of frames indicates thenumber of frames on which a video effect is to be made. With the icon 56d shown in FIG. 14, the dissolve processing between the video materialnames “STUDIO RECORDING 2” in VIDEO A 53 and “COVERAGE CUT 1” in VIDEO B54 is carried out at the position indicated in FIG. 14 on the previous15 frames (in this case, the material name “COVERAGE CUT 1”) so that theimage is dissolved to the image of the material name “STUDIO RECORDING2”. In the case where the effect time is not set, the effect time isdetermined by predetermined time setting.

An editing point input method will now be described, in which an editingpoint of the video material on which a video special effect should bemade is inputted so as to make the video special effect.

FIG. 15 shows the editing screen 24 in the state that an editing pointis being inputted.

The input of an editing point is carried out by operating a part of theinput operating section 18 which is referred to as a jog/shuttle dialshown in FIG. 16, or a display on the editing screen 24 or on a screendifferent from the editing screen 24. In the following description, apart of the input operating section 18 is operated. The details of thisoperation will be described later.

First, when an image displayed by overlook display in the VIDEO A row 53or the VIDEO B row 54 of the source name display screen 64 on theediting screen 24 shown in FIG. 15 is selected by operating the inputoperating section 18, for example, clicking the mouse, the jog/shuttledial 7 shown in FIG. 16 becomes effective. The jog/shuttle dial 7 shownin FIG. 16 includes an in-button 7 a, an out-button 7 b, and a dial 7 c.The dial 7 b is a so-called jog dial and shuttle dial.

By operating this dial 7 c of the jog/shuttle dial 7, the position of animage on which a special effect is to be made is adjusted. For example,with respect to the material name “COVERAGE CUT 1” 54 b in VIDEO B 54 onthe editing screen 24 of FIG. 15, the position of the video material 54d which is currently selected and displayed entirely may be operated bythe dial 7 c of the jog/shuttle dial 7. Specifically, the position wherea special effect is to be made with respect to the video materialindicated by the material name “COVERAGE CUT 1” may be adjusted byrotating the dial 7 c to the left or to the right. That is, an in-pointof the video material on which the special effect is to be made (thefirst frame on which the special effect is to be made) is determined byrotating the dial 7 c to move the image indicated by the video materialname “COVERAGE CUT 1” in VIDEO B 54 and pressing the in-button 7 a ofthe jog/shuttle dial 7 at an appropriate position. Similarly, anout-point (the last frame on which the special effect is to be made) isdetermined by pressing the out-button 7 b of the jog/shuttle dial 7.

The method of inputting the video editing point for the special effectby operating the jog/shuttle dial 7 is described above. In theabove-described example, the jog/shuttle dial 7 is a part of the inputoperating section 18. It may also be considered that a window displayingthe jog/shuttle dial 7 is displayed on the editing screen 24 or onanother screen. In such case, the in-button 7 a, the out-button 7 b andthe dial 7 c are selected or rotated by operating the input operatingsection 18, for example, clicking the mouse, so that the input of theediting point may be realized similarly to the above-described example.

The special effect setting method for the video material by utilizingthe editing screen 24 is described above.

A method of setting an audio effect on an audio material will now bedescribed.

An audio effect on an audio material is made in the AUDIO EFFECT row 59.Similar to the operation in VIDEO EFFECT 56 on the video material, ablank icon is selected and moved to a position where an audio effect isto be made, by operating the input operating section 18, for example,clicking the mouse. As the blank icon at this position is selected byoperating the input operating section 18, for example, clicking themouse, an audio effect window 58 shown in FIG. 17 is displayed asanother window on the editing screen 24. In this audio effect window 58,as a desired audio effect icon is selected, the selected audio effecticon is displayed in the blank icon as displayed in the AUDIO EFFECT row59 of FIG. 18. The audio effect window 58 shown in FIG. 17 displaysaudio effect icons 58 a, 58 b, 58 c and 58 d for cross-fading. Thevertical axis of each audio effect icon corresponds to the audio level,and the horizontal. axis corresponds to the time. The display of afunction corresponds to an audio material at an out/in-point.

When the selected audio effect icon is displayed in AUDIO EFFECT 59, theeffect time is set similarly to the operation for the video specialeffect. For setting the effect time, the input operating section 18 isoperated, for example, the numeral “10” is inputted by the keyboard,similarly to the setting of the effect time of the video special effect,so that an audio effect indicated by the audio effect icon is made onthe audio material of the video material of preceding and succeedingfive frames. When the effect time is not operated by the operation ofthe input operating section 18, the audio effect is made on the audiomaterial corresponding to a predetermined number of frames.

The above-described video special effect setting method and audio effectsetting method are carried out as follows. That is, the video materialrecorded on the video editing device 10 is stored in the video specialeffect unit 16 from the HDD 12 under the command from the editingcontrol section 11 by the above-described series of operations on theediting screen 24 displayed on the display section 17. The actualspecial effect such as dissolve processing is made by the video specialeffect unit 16, and the processed video material is recorded again onthe HDD 12. Also, the audio material recorded on the video editingdevice 10 is stored in the audio mixer 15 from the HDD 12 under thecommand from the editing control section 11 by the above-describedseries of operations on the editing screen 24 displayed on the displaysection 17. The actual audio effect is made by the audio mixer 15, andthe processed audio material is recorded again on the HDD 12.

Keying processing of the video material as shown in FIG. 18 will now bedescribed.

Keying processing is processing for changing the color of a backgroundor a line of a still picture or a frame. A method of setting a videokeying effect will now be described.

First, in the source name display screen 64 on the editing screen 24, aDSK material 55 a displayed in the DSK (digital still keying) row 55 isselected by operating the input operating section 18, for example,clicking the mouse. When the DSK material 55 is selected, a DSK effectsetting window 60 is displayed on the editing screen 24. In this DSKeffect setting window 60, the setting necessary for keying processing iscarried out. The DSK effect setting window 60 includes a pattern settingsection 60 a, an execution time setting section 60 b, a mat colorsetting section 60 c, and a border color setting section 60 d, as shownin FIG. 18.

The pattern setting section 60 a is adapted for setting a keying effectpattern. Each pattern is displayed as an icon, with the vertical axisrepresenting the keying level and the horizontal axis representing thetime. A desired pattern is selected by operating the input operatingsection 18, for example, clicking the mouse. As the execution timesetting section 60 b, an execution time for carrying out keyingprocessing is displayed below the icon displaying each pattern, and isset by operating the input operating section 18, for example, inputtinga numeral by the keyboard.

The mat color setting section 60 c is adapted for setting the color of apredetermined region of a video region, mainly, the background of theimage. Specifically, when a set color alter button 600 c of the matcolor setting section 60 c is selected by operating the input operatingsection 18, a color setting window, not shown, is displayed on the DSKeffect setting window 60. This color setting window displays icons ofvarious colors, and when a desired color is selected by operating theinput operating section 18, the selected color is displayed in the setcolor section of the mat color setting section 60 c.

The border color setting section 60 d is adapted for setting the colorof a region, mainly, the line of the image. Specifically, similar to theoperation of the mat color setting section 60 b, a “SET COLOR ALTER”button of the border color setting section 60 d is operated and adesired color is selected from a color setting window. Also, the widthof the border is set in this section. In the example shown in FIG. 17,the width of the border is four dots.

Trimming at a position for carrying out keying processing is carried outby the jog/shuttle dial 7, which is used for inputting the editing pointin the above-described video special effect. Specifically, in the casewhere keying processing is to be carried out on the material of thematerial name “OPENING”, a desired frame in VIDEO A 53 on the editingscreen 24 is selected by the dial 7 c, and the in-button 7 a of thejog/shuttle dial 7 is operated.

If the configuration of the program is altered, the trimming state ofthe material is returned to the initial state.

The case where additional setting of key processing is carried out onthe editing screen 24 will now be described with reference to FIG. 19.

In the source name display screen 64 on the editing screen 24, as the“DSK NEW” button 351 of the operation menu 35 is selected by operatingthe input operating section 18, a DSK material window 61 shown in FIG.19 is displayed. In the DSK material window 61, an image (still picture)different from the material displayed on the DSK row 55 is displayed asan icon. When one of the icons is selected by operating the inputoperating section 18, the icon is newly displayed in the DSK row 55 sothat the above-described operation of keying processing may be carriedout on the selected new icon, that is, the new material.

The DSK material window 61 displays the above-described image as anicon. In FIG. 19, DSK materials such as a material ID “T001-00” and anicon display 61 a of an image (still picture) indicated by the materialID, and a material ID “T002-00” and an icon display 61 b of an image(still picture) indicated by the material ID are displayed in a list. Ascroll bar 61 d is displayed on the lowermost part of the DSK materialwindow, and a button 61 e can be caused to scroll the DSK materialwindow 61 on this window screen by operating the input operatingsection.

In the DSK material window 61 thus constituted, an image (still picture)as a new target of keying processing may be inserted in the DSK row 55as follows. That is, when the “DSK NEW” button 351 of the operation menu35 is selected on the editing screen 24 by operating the input operatingsection 18, the DSK material window 61 is displayed. A desired icon isselected from the icons displayed in the DSK material window 61 on theediting screen 24 by operating the input operating section 18, and aposition where keying processing is intended to be executed is selectedin the DSK row 55 in the source name display screen 64 on the editingscreen 24 by operating the input operating section 18. Thus, theselected icon is inserted in this position. After the icon is inserted,as the DSK material icon is selected on the editing screen by operatingthe input operating section 18, the DSK setting window 60 is displayedso that the effect pattern, the execution time, the mat color and theborder color are set. The setting in the DSK setting window 60 iscarried out by the same method as the above-described setting method forkeying processing.

When the DSK material icon set in the DSK row 55 in the source namedisplay screen 64 is selected by operating the input operating section18 and then the “DELETE” button 353 of the operation menu 35 isselected, the icon is deleted from the DSK row 55. The keying processingand additional setting for keying are described above.

Recording/monitoring of audio materials other than the audio materialrecorded together with the video material at the time of shooting, andvarious other operations will now be described with reference to FIG.20.

For recording audio materials, the “AUDIO NEW” button 352 of theoperation menu 35 on the editing screen 24 is first selected byoperating the input operating section 18, and a track of an audiomaterial to be recorded is selected. The track of the audio material tobe recorded is the ANNOUNCE row 70, the SOUND EFFECT 1 row 594, or theSOUND EFFECT 2 row 595 in the source name display screen 64. In theexample shown in FIG. 20, the ANNOUNCE row 70 is selected. Then, arecording start position is selected by operating the input operatingsection 18. The audio material to be recorded is selected by operatingthe input operating section 18 and the position of the selected track isselected, thereby determining the recording start position. In thiscase, an audio material ID “A000-00” is selected, and this audiomaterial is started at the start position of the video material havingthe material name “STUDIO RECORDING 1”. Also, the above-describedjog/shuttle dial 7 is made effective by operating the input operatingsection 18, and the leading portion of the audio material displayed onthe track may be searched by operating the dial 7 c. By selecting the“REC” button 356 of the operation menu 35, the actual audio material isrecorded onto the HDD 12 of the video editing device 10. Recording ofthe audio material may be confirmed as a waveform indicating the audiolevel is displayed on the selected track of the audio material on theediting screen and as the sound is outputted from a speaker, not shown,provided in the video editing device 10. On completion of necessaryaudio recording, recording of the audio material is ended by selectingthe “STOP” button 358 of the operation menu. For monitoring the recordedaudio material, a track on which a desired sound is displayed isselected by operating the input operating section 18 and the “MONI”button 357 of the operation menu 35 is selected so that the sound isreproduced and outputted from the speaker, not shown. The position ofthe track of the audio material which is being reproduced is displayedby highlighting or by a cursor. When monitoring of the audio material isintended to be stopped, the “STOP” button 358 of the operation menu 35is selected.

Material IDs are automatically appended to all the audio materials. Ifthe material ID of the audio material is intended to be changed, adesired audio material is selected by operating the input operatingsection 18 and the “ALTER” button 354 of the operation menu 35 isselected. Then, a material ID is inputted by operating the inputoperating section 18, thus enabling change of the material ID. After thematerial ID is changed, the alter information is saved by selecting the“SAVE” button 355 of the operation menu 35.

Also, similar to the trimming of the video material, trimming of all theaudio materials may be carried out by operating the jog/shuttle dial 7.Specifically, as an audio material for trimming is selected by operatingthe input operating section 18 after recording the audio materials, theabove-described jog/shuttle dial 7 becomes operable. By operating thein-button 7 a and the out-button 7 b of the jog/shuttle dial 7, anin-point and an out-point of the audio material are set, respectively.After that, as the “SAVE” button 355 of the operation menu 35 isselected by operating the input operating section 18, the trimmed audiomaterial is recorded. The material ID of the trimmed audio material isautomatically changed to an ID which is different from the material IDbefore trimming. To return the trimmed audio material to the originalaudio material, a desired audio material displayed on the editing screen24 is selected, and the “ALTER” button 354 of the operation menu 35 isselected so as to return the material ID to the original ID.

To delete the audio material, an audio material to be deleted, displayedon the editing screen 24, is selected and the “DELETE” button 353 of theoperation menu 35 is selected.

If the program configuration itself is intended to be altered, thetrimmed audio material is. returned to the audio material beforetrimming, that is, the initial state.

The recording, monitoring, and various other operations of the audiomaterial are described above.

The material screen 25 shown in FIG. 21 will now be described.

A material displayed on the material screen 25 is a material shot andrecorded with a material ID which is not registered in advance on theprogram configuration screen 23 before shooting. Such material ismanaged on this material screen 25.

As shown in FIG. 21, the material screen 25 includes material typeselecting buttons 62, a material name display screen 65, an operationmenu 35, a scroll bar 36, and a monitor scroll bar 43.

The material type selecting buttons 62 include a “VIDEO/AUDIO” button 62a, a “STILL PICTURE” button 62 b, and an “AUDIO” button 62 c. The“VIDEO/AUDIO” button 62 a is adapted for switching a screen displayed onthe material screen 25 to a screen showing a video material and an audiomaterial recorded together with the video material. The material screen25 shown in FIG. 21 displays video materials and audio materialsrecorded together with the video materials. In this screen, when the“STILL PICTURE” button 62 b is selected on the material screen 25 byoperating the input operating section 18, the screen is switched to amaterial screen on which a still picture material is displayed. On theother hand, when the “AUDIO” button 62 c is selected on the screen shownin FIG. 21, the screen is switched to a material screen on which anaudio material is displayed.

The material name display screen 65 has the similar configuration as thematerial name display screen 63 of the program configuration screen 23.In the material name display screen 65, as shown in FIG. 21, “MATERIALID”, “MATERIAL NAME”, “MATERIAL TIME”, “STAFF”, “RECORDING DATE”, and“MONITOR” are displayed, and the material ID, the material name, thetime for recording the material to the editing device, the staff memberof the material, the date on which the material was recorded, and theactual material are displayed in each row with respect to each materialID. In the “MONITOR” column, similar to the monitor column 47 of theprogram configuration screen 23, overlook display of an image withrespect to a video material or level display with respect to an audiomaterial is displayed.

The operation menu 35 includes eight buttons of “NEW”, “DELETE”,“ALTER”, “SAVE”, “REC”, “MONI”, “STOP”, and “END”, sequentially from theleft on the material screen 25. Similar to the buttons of the operationmenu 35 of the program configuration screen 23, these buttons areadapted for registering a new material, deleting a registered material,altering each item of a registered material, saving an item and amaterial after alteration, recording a material onto the HDD 12 as arecording material of the editing device 10, monitoring a recordedmaterial, stopping recording and monitoring, and ending the materialscreen 25, respectively.

The scroll bar 36 is provided on the right side of the material namedisplay screen 65, and a scroll button 36 a of scroll bar 36 can becaused to scroll up and down the material screen 25 by operating theinput operating section 18.

The monitor scroll bar 43 is provided on the lower side of the monitorcolumn 47 of the material screen 45 and enables scrolling the materialdisplayed in the monitor column 47 to left and right.

In the example shown in FIG. 21, since all the images are displayed byoverlook display in the monitor column 47, recording of all the videomaterials is completed.

Referring to FIGS. 22 and 23, cut-out of a material on the materialscreen will now be described.

The cut-out of the material is an operation of cutting out only anecessary material from video materials recorded in advance in theediting device 10 and deleting unnecessary frames.

The material cut-out operation will now be described with reference toFIG. 22.

On the material screen 25, a material as a cut-out target is selected byoperating the input operating section 18. The entire row of the selectedmaterial is highlighted as shown in FIG. 22. In FIG. 22, a material(with a material ID “V023-00” and a material name “NAME UNSET 7”) in thethird row from the top of the. material name display screen 65 isselected. The selected material is highlighted, and the above-describedjog/shuttle dial 7 becomes effective. A frame of a cut-out startposition of the image displayed in the monitor column 47 is selected byusing the jog/shuttle dial 7, specifically, by operating the dial 7 c ofthe jog/shuttle dial 7, and then, the cut-out start position isdetermined by operating the in-button 7 a. As for a cut-out endposition, a frame of the cut-out end position is selected by operatingthe dial 7 c of the jog/shuttle dial 7, and then the cut-out endposition is determined by operating the out-button 7 b.

On completion of the material cut-out operation, a material ID isautomatically appended and is newly added to the list in the materialname display screen 65. In the example of FIG. 22, the last two digitsof the material ID are altered from “V023-00” to “V023-01” so as to beadded to the material name display screen 65.

When the cut-out operation of each material and the subsequent additionto the list in the material name display screen 65 are completed, thematerial screen 25 as shown in FIG. 23 is obtained.

In the material screen 25 of FIG. 23, materials in the fourth to seventhrows displayed in the material name display screen 65 are materials cutout from the material displayed in the third row. It is know from thematerial IDs of the fourth to seventh rows, displayed as “V023-01”,“V023-02”, “V023-03” and “V023-04”, and the material ID of the thirdrow, displayed as “V023-00”, in which the first four digits are the samewhile the last two digits are altered. As a matter of course, otherforms of display may be used, such as material IDs in which certainparts of the digits are the same while the other parts are different, orcolumns of material IDs having different colors.

The above-described method is applied to the case where the videomaterial is recorded and edited in accordance with the programregistered in advance. However, the method may also be applied to thecase where the program configuration is determined after recording thevideo material so that editing is carried out after that.

According to the editing device and the editing system of the presentinvention, the device and system may be provided which enable sufficientexertion of the functions thereof even when various limitations such asthe skill of the operator are imposed in actual editing work using videomaterials or the like.

Industrial Applicability

The editing device of the present invention may be applied to variousediting devices and editing systems such as an editing device used at abroadcasting station or a production house.

What is claimed is:
 1. An editing device comprising: a non-linearlyaccessible recording medium; recording means for recording video and/oraudio programs onto the recording medium; display means for displaying aprogram configuration table indicating individual programs and imagesand/or sounds included in each program, said table including rows andcolumns, each row including information for a respective program, afirst column of said row including an identification code for saidprogram, a second column of said row including images of said program,said images including a first image comprising a leading frame of saidprogram, and a second image composed of frames extracted from the framesof the program; operating means for updating the program configurationtable displayed by the display means; and control means responsive tothe operating means for registering in the program configuration tablethe identification codes of respective programs indicated by the programconfiguration table; said operating means and said control meanscooperating to cause the recording means to record only images and/orsounds of a program indicated by a selected one of the registeredidentification codes.
 2. The editing device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the control means controls the display means to display onlyimages selected by the operating means in a predetermined recordingorder on a frame-by-frame basis on the program configuration table. 3.The editing device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:reproduction output means for reproducing images and/or sounds recordedon the recording medium, and outputting the reproduced images and/orsounds in the order represented by the program configuration tabledisplayed on the display means.
 4. The editing device as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising special effect processing means for applyingspecial effects to images and/or sounds already recorded on therecording medium.
 5. An editing method comprising the steps of:recording video and/or audio programs onto a non-linearly accessiblerecording medium; displaying a program configuration table indicatingindividual programs and images and/or sounds included in each program,said table including rows and columns, each row including informationfor a respective program, a first column of said row including anidentification code for said program, a second column of said rowincluding images of said program, said images including a first imagecomprising a leading frame of said program, and a second image composedof frames extracted from the frames of the program; updating thedisplayed program configuration table; registering in the programconfiguration table the identification codes of respective programsindicated by the program configuration table; and recording only imagesand/or sounds of a program indicated by a selected one of the registeredidentification codes.
 6. The editing method of claim 5, wherein theindicated images are displayed in a recording order on a frame by framebasis on the program configuration table.
 7. The editing method of claim5, further comprising the steps of: reproducing images and/or soundsrecorded on the recording medium and outputting the reproduced imagesand/or sounds in the order of the program configuration table.
 8. Theediting method of claim 5, further comprising the step of applyingspecial effects to images and/or sounds already recorded on therecording medium.